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Dual citizens should be allowed to compete for office says Holness
Jamaica’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness (pictured) has backed calls to ammend the constitution to allow Jamaicans who hold dual citizenships to compete for office.
Holness indicated that the issue needed to be resolved quickly as it was unfair to Jamaicans – who happen to hold other citizenships – and yet were qualified to vie for national office.
“The Jamaican ‘commonwealth’ is its diaspora, and the way the law is structured now, we are giving preference to the British Commonwealth to represent us, whereas we should really be looking at ensuring that it is the Jamaican commonwealth that is able to come back to its country and participate,” Holness told reporters in a recent interview.
Under the Constitution, persons who are under the acknowledgement of allegiance or obedience to a foreign power do not qualify to sit in Parliament. Persons who are citizens of Commonwealth countries can be elected to Parliament providing they have lived in the country for one year prior to Nomination Day.